tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post6512365073223372065..comments2023-07-17T11:55:51.363+02:00Comments on ObservingGreece: Greeks, don't give Merkozy and the rest of the world a KITA!kleinguthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12491174042954678023noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post-38153150441271338612012-01-22T15:00:52.289+01:002012-01-22T15:00:52.289+01:00I cannot disagree! I have been reading around your...I cannot disagree! I have been reading around your site with interest. <br /><br />Quite honestly I could wish that people like you worked in places like London - where it seems that speculation is the only legitimate way to make a profit these days. <br /><br />As to the Americans spending too much - that is their problem. China will thank them for giving them an industry, at only $4 trillion dollars (what America owes China in treasuries, or thereabouts) is cheap at the price. To my mind, Germany will agree with that sentiment. <br /><br />It is a pity that the Americans did not invest in the way that the Germans did. The American deal with China could easily have been a win-win situation just as Japan has with China. The latter is good for everyone.Gemmahttp://www.learning-it.nlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post-17507195292372147582012-01-20T11:12:27.171+01:002012-01-20T11:12:27.171+01:00Your point is correct and I have published quite a...Your point is correct and I have published quite a bit on that. A couple of the more important posts are linked below (Warren Buffett’s tale about Thriftville vs. Squanderville tells it all!). If you read German, you will find in that post statistics about the US current account deficit.<br /><br />Yes, the US is on a huge scale what Greece was/is on a small scale. In Greece, the problem really started with the Euro about 10 years ago; in the US it has been going on for 3-4 decades.<br /><br />Alan Greenspan, who then knew everything about everything, once wrote an article why the US current account deficit was sustainable forever. Well, any first-year student of Economics would flunk the course saying that. A current account deficit is only sustainable as long as the deficit country has enough domestic wealth against which foreigners are prepared to extend credit or which assets foreigners are willing to buy. The US has a lot of both; Greece is now running short on both.<br /><br />Greenspan probably meant that the US had enough wealth to finance the current account deficit forever. Warren Buffett would warn that there is no such thing as forever. <br /><br />The real scary thing about this is the following: for several decades now, the consumption-addicted and fear-no-debt American consumer has been the major locomotive in world economic growth. On one hand, the rest of the world should blame Americans for living/spending so irresponsibly. On the other hand, they should thank them for it!<br /><br />http://klauskastner.blogspot.com/2011/07/comparison-with-usa.html<br />http://klauskastner.blogspot.com/2011/11/warren-buffetts-simple-wisdoms.html<br />http://klauskastner.blogspot.com/2011/12/finally-importance-of-current-account.html<br />http://klauskastner.blogspot.com/2011/12/zum-thema-leistungsbilanzen.htmlkleinguthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12491174042954678023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post-79663410226952020162012-01-20T10:24:27.853+01:002012-01-20T10:24:27.853+01:00Kleingut
I am impressed by your short pithy argum...Kleingut<br /><br />I am impressed by your short pithy arguments. <br /><br />One element of context that I would like to draw to the attention of your readers is that the American deficit. Whilst the US economy is substantially bigger than Greece - so is its deficit. <br /><br />You mention that Greece has ramped up €1/5trillion in ten years. The US is now ramping up four times that much in the space of just one year. Neither seem capable or willing to deal with the fundamental problem.Gemzhttp://www.learning-it.nlnoreply@blogger.com